Authorities seized a helicopter and an airplane belonging to Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk and his family and turned them over to the Armed Forces.
The National Police of Ukraine’s Department of Strategic Investigations stated in a statement obtained on Wednesday, July 6: “A helicopter and an airplane belonging to the Medvedchuk family were handed over for the needs of the Armed Forces.”
According to them, this occurred as part of an investigation into Medvedchuk for “abuse of power” and other crimes, and that the “Chief Investigative Department of the National Police seized the helicopter and aircraft used by Victor Medvedchuk’s family.” Victor Medvedchuk, 67, is a pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarch and politician who served in the Ukrainian Parliament and opposes Ukraine’s membership in the European Union.
He is regarded as a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin is the godfather of Medvedchuk’s youngest daughter, and it is thought that if he had taken Kyiv during the early stages of the invasion, he planned to install him as President of Ukraine.
Following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, February 24, the United States swiftly sanctioned Medvedchuk. On February 27, he escaped from house arrest before being apprehended by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) on April 12. The statement from the Prosecutor General’s Office also accuses Medvedchuk of abusing his power and illegally taking possession of property.
The Prosecutor General also stated that other assets registered in the name of Medvedchuk’s wife, Oksana Marchenko, 49, who is suspected of “high treason,” had been seized.
Among these assets is a luxury estate known as Vedmeja Dibrova, which is thought to be owned by Medvedchuk. It is situated in the village of Zhdeniievo, which is part of the Volovets Raion in the Zakarpattia Oblast region of western Ukraine.
We reached out to the Ukrainian National Police’s Department of Strategic Investigations and the Russian Ministry of Defense for more information, but have yet to receive a response.
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